head to head · open source
uBlock vs BetterViewer
uBlock has 68,585 GitHub stars, 4,388 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. BetterViewer has 551 stars, 29 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 12,347% (68,585 vs 551 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; BetterViewer is written in TypeScript under MIT. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, BetterViewer 5%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser-extension), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| uBlock | BetterViewer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 551 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 29 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uBlock if
- You weight community size — 69K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick BetterViewer if
- You want the BetterViewer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and BetterViewer fits your workflow better
About uBlock
uBlock Origin is a CPU and memory efficient, wide spectrum content blocker for Chromium and Firefox, aimed at anyone who wants ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, anti blockers and malware sites neutralised by default without hand tuning anything.
read the full uBlock overview →
About BetterViewer
BetterViewer is an MIT licensed, TypeScript image viewer and editor that runs as a browser extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox based browsers and as a desktop application for Windows, Linux and macOS, aimed at anyone who wants more than the browser's built in image viewing mode.
read the full BetterViewer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or BetterViewer more popular?
uBlock has 68,585 GitHub stars and BetterViewer has 551. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and BetterViewer free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and BetterViewer under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and BetterViewer?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and BetterViewer in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, uBlock or BetterViewer?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (68,585 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose BetterViewer if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.